


The Truth Comes Out

by An_Ordinary_Writer



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Seriously it feels like I'm doing double time over here, There needs to be more stories about Luz and her mom, coming out story, obvious title is obvious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:38:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24710167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/An_Ordinary_Writer/pseuds/An_Ordinary_Writer
Summary: After Luz once again gets into trouble at school, Camilia demands some answers. However, Luz isn't all that excited to give answers.
Relationships: Camilia Noceda & Luz Noceda
Comments: 30
Kudos: 183





	The Truth Comes Out

**Author's Note:**

> Consider this my entry for pride month.

Luz sat patiently on her chair in the principal's office, wearing a cheerleaders outfit and lightly drumming her fingers on her knees out of boredom. Looking up, she gave a small and polite smile to Principal Hal, who had his usual frown. Or at least, his frown that he usually has when dealing with Luz.

“Sooooo,” Luz pointed to a potted plant by the window, “Is that new? It looks new?”

“I’ve had it all year,” Hal growled, continuing to glare at Luz.

“Oh,” Luz said lightly, “I’ve just never noticed it before. Says a lot about me being a student, right? ‘Cause of the fact that I’ve been in here so much, and yet I haven’t noticed the clearly visible potted plant? It's crazy, right?”

Hal’s response was to do nothing but glare harder. As if glaring at Luz could cause her to disappear forever, along with Hal's migraine. Luz took that as a hint to shut up and sit in silence until her savior arrived.

“I’m here!” Camilia exclaimed once she entered the room.

‘Speak of the angle,’ Luz thought with levity returning to her system.

“Hola Mami!”

“Hola mija,” Camilia quickly said as she stood next to her daughter, "What happened this time?"

“What do you mean what happened?!” Hal shouted, startling Camilia and Luz, “I told you on the phone: Your daughter traumatized the entire cheer squad!”

“I mean, traumatized is a bit of a stretch,” Luz said, but visibly shrank once Principal Hal glared at her again. Camilia glared back as she rested a sympathetic hand on Luz’s shoulder.

“I want to hear  _ her _ side of the story,” Camilia stated and then faced her daughter, “Now, Luz. Tell me what happened.”

Luz looked at her mom, then to her principal, and back to her mom. Sitting in a more relaxed position, Luz cleared her throat and began her story.

“Well, it all started when I heard there was an opening for the cheerleader squad,” she said, “And I thought ‘Hey! That might be fun.’ So I thought I’d give it the ol’ college try-or, high school try, I guess-and try out. But then I learned that the opening was for only  _ one  _ cheerleader. So I said to myself ‘Ok Luz. You gotta try even harder if you want to get in now.’ So after Carla-You know who Carla is, right?”

“The girl who you say is your rival?” Camilia asked, “The one with the pink streak in her blonde hair?”

“That’s the one!”

"Yeah, I'd figured from the several times you've talked about her."

“I’m sorry, she thinks Ms. Kernstien is her what now?” Hal asked, genuinely confused.

“Trust me,” Camilia said calmly, “You do not want to get into that.”

“Anyways,” Luz continued, “After Carla did a cool somersault, I figured that I should do something  _ much  _ cooler. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do a summersault like hers without worrying if I’ll break my neck, so I just did the first thing that came to mind...Which was my eyelid trick.”

Luz said that last part so fast, that it took Camilia a while to process it. And when she did, Camilia pinched the brim of her nose out of agitation.

“Oh dios mio Luz,” she sighed.

“Your ‘eyelid trick?’” Hal restated with more confusion, “What in the name of Heaven and Earth is your ‘eyelid trick?’”

“Again, you don’t want to know,” Camilia groaned, which caused Principal Hal to glare at  _ her  _ this time.

“Because of your daughter, three girls went to the nurse’s office,” he severely stated “When I walked by, I saw them puking into buckets as if they had the meatloaf special for lunch. And it wasn't even meatloaf day! So trust me when I say that: Yes. I do want to know."

Hal then aimed his glare back at Luz.

"So I'll ask again," he growled, "What, in the name of Heaven and Earth, is your eyelid trick, Luz?”

Luz once again looked back and forth between Camilia and Principal Hal. Camilia was currently messaging her temples, and Hal had his stern glare practically glued on Luz. Realizing that it’s for the best, to tell the truth, Luz gave her answer.

“Well, I could tell you-”

“Just tell him,” Camilia interrupted.

“-Or I could show you!”

“Don’t show him anything.”

“You see the eyelid trick is where I do…” Luz then turned away from the Principal to reveal her trick.

“Mija, I’m begging,” Camilia said, “Please don’t-”

“This!” Luz faced Principal Hal with her flipped eyelids inside out, “Pretty cool right?”

Principal Hal responded by immediately grabbing his trashcan and vomiting into it.

“...So that’s a no?”

“Luz!’ Camilia exclaimed, “Why don’t you wait outside while I have a chat with your principal. Ok?”

Luz, with her eyelids still inside out, looked at her mom, and then back to her vomiting principal.

“...ok,” She said quietly before getting up and exiting the room. Once Luz left, Camilia looked back at Principal Hal, who had finally set down his trashcan full of vomit.

“Sooooo,” Camilia pointed at the potted plant, “Is that new? It looks new.”

“YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT GIRL!” Hal shouted, slamming his fists onto his desk.

“I know!” Camilia took a calming breath before continuing, “I know. And I get it. Luz can be a bit troublesome at times-”

“A bit-A BIT TROUBLESOME?!” Hal repeated dramatically, “A bit troublesome is what I’d use to describe a child who draws crude doodles on a bathroom stall! That girl is a menace to society, and you need to do something to take care of her!”

At that, Camilia gave Hal a glare of her own as she clenched her fists to her sides.

“With all due respect, that is still my daughter you’re talking about,” she said sternly, “And in no way do you have any right to talk about her like that. She is a living, _ breathing _ , human being. Not a broken machine that I can just send somewhere to get fixed.”

“I’d beg to differ,” Hal then reached for his desk drawer, but paused after hearing what he just said, “To be clear, I meant the getting fixed part. Not the machine part. You’re right. I crossed a line. And I’m sorry about that. Now as for Luz getting fixed..."

Hal then opened his drawer and pulled a brochure. He then slapped it onto the desk for Camilia to read and that it was for something called a “Reality Check Camp.”

“You want me to send Luz here?” Camilia asked with concern in her voice, “This sounds like...her worst nightmare come to life. Don’t you think it’s a little much?”

“Might I remind you about the other offenses your daughter has made,” Hal growled, “I still find spiders throughout the school ever since the griffin incident.”

To prove his point, Hal took his coffee cup and squashed a spider that was crawling on his desk.

“...Fair point,” Camilia said once her shock wore off, “But I’m reading this, and it seems like a ‘Reality Check Camp’ is a place you send bad kids, so they stop causing trouble. And that’s just not Luz. I mean, yes, she can be a bit much. But she doesn't purposefully try to.”

Hal let out a long and drawn out sigh after Camilia’s plea. He then looked back up to face her. Not with a glare. Not even with a look with the tiniest bit of anger. Instead, Principal Hal looked at Camilia with an expression of honesty and sympathy.

“Look,” he said, “I understand that you love your daughter. But that’s the main reason why I think you should at least  _ consider  _ that camp. We, as humans, are social creatures who need relationships to survive. If Luz keeps acting like this, then she will spend the rest of her life alone because everyone else was too scared to go near her. And something tells me that you don’t want that.”

Camilia felt her insides twist in a knot as she let Hal’s words sink in. Looking at the brochure again, Camilia began to wonder: Should she do this? Hal could see that Camilia was conflicted, so he walked over to her and kindly placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Look,” he continued, “I’m not asking you to do this for me or anyone else in this school. I’m asking you to do this for Luz.”

“...I’ll think about it.” Camilia said as she put the brochure in her purse.

  
  


***

Both Luz and Camilia sat in silence during the drive home. Occasionally Luz would glance at her mother and vice versa, but the two still sat awkwardly avoiding conversation. Halfway to their home, Camilia decided to speak up.

“So...you didn’t...eavesdrop on the conversation did you?”

“No.”

“Ok...so you didn’t hear anything Principal Hal said?”

“Just the stuff he yelled about,” Luz said silently. At that, the two remained quiet for the rest of the trip. When Camilia pulled into their driveway, she shut off the car, and the two of them just sat there. Neither of them even attempted to move and open their door.

“...I’m sorry,” Luz said.

“I know,” Camilia reassured.

“I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

“I know.”

“And I swear that I’ll try not to do anything weird again.”

“...I know.”

“...Are you mad?”

“No.”

“Disappointed?”

“No. I’m just…” Camilia couldn’t find the right words to say, so instead, she just sighed and rested her head on the steering wheel.

“...You’re just what?” Luz asked with concern.

“I’m just confused, mija!” Camilia snapped, “Why? Why, out of all the things you could have done at cheerleader practice, did you decide to do the eyelid trick?”

“...I mean, I explained why,” Luz said hesitantly, “I wanted to do a trick that was cooler than Carla’s, and the eyelid trick was the only thing I could think of.”

“Yeah, but what I don’t understand is why was it so important for you to be a cheerleader?” Camilia asked, her anger showing, “This morning, when you told me you were going to try out, you said it like it was nothing. It’s the same thing when you said that you were going to try out to be Juliet in the school play. You briefly mentioned it like it was nothing, then did something crazy because it suddenly became  _ so _ important. So what’s the missing variable? What am I not seeing?”

“It’s…” Luz looked away from her mother with a light blush on Luz’s cheeks, “It’s complicated. Ok?”

“Then uncomplicate it.”

“NO!” Luz practically shrieked with an expression of pure panic. Camilia was taken aback by that reaction because she has never seen Luz scream like that before. Not even during their horror movie nights. Luz took notice of her mother’s shocked expression and attempted to calm down.

“Look, I’ll tell you the real reason why I did all that stuff. I really will,” Luz said, “Just...just not right now. One day I will. But not right now. Ok?”

Camilia just continued to stare at her daughter. Eventually, she sighed and got out of the car. Luz got out as well and followed her mom to the front door. Once they got inside, Luz attempted to go upstairs to her room. However, Camilia stopped Luz by grabbing her arm.

“Phone,” Camilia ordered, holding her hand out.

“What?” Luz asked with her head tilted like a confused puppy.

“Give me. Your phone.” Slowly and hesitantly, Luz took her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Camilia. Camilia, with the phone in hand, pointed towards the kitchen.

“I’ll be sitting at the kitchen table, doing work on my laptop,” she explained, “Whenever you're ready to explain why you've been acting so crazy lately, I will be waiting. Right. There.”

“Mom-”

“And for every day you decide not to tell me the truth, you are grounded until further notice.”

“¡No es justo!”

“Cuando eres madre, a veces tienes que ser injusto.” Camilia said, standing her ground. It hurt Camilia to give this dilemma, especially with her daughter having an expression that was a mix of anger and fear. Still, Camilia knew she had to get an answer. Because she couldn’t just let her daughter think that saying sorry and giving an empty promise was enough to make a problem go away. That didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt less when Luz stormed up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door.

“Aye,” Camilia sighed, “Esto es por tu propio bien mija.”

  
  


***

For the last two hours, Camilia spent her time looking through the website of the reality check camp. Camilla checked the camp’s information, history, and available activities. Camilia even checked the price for admission and noticed that it wasn’t expensive in the slightest. So she could pay for the admission fee now and sign Luz up to go once school is over. There was just one thing that prevented Camilia from doing so: The fact that she knew Luz would hate everything about that camp.

‘It’s for her own good,’ one part of Camilia said.

‘But what if she _hates_ _me_ for it,’ another part countered.

‘She’s a teenager. Teens hate everything anyway.’

‘Not my baby.’

‘Well, your baby is currently keeping a secret from you because it’s ‘complicated.’ So what does that tell you?’

“Mom.”

The sudden and broken voice took Camilia away from her thoughts. She looked up from the Laptop to see Luz standing at the other end of the table, pale-faced and looking everywhere but towards her mother. Seeing her daughter look this way, Camilia was just about ready to call everything off. But Camilia knew that she had to be adept.

“Are you ready to tell me the truth?” she said, trying not to break. Luz responded by giving a short and anxious nod. Camilia then closed her Laptop and motioned toward the chair at the opposite end. Luz must have seen the motion out of the corner of her eye because she obliged and sat down in the chair. For a while, the two of them silently sat as Camilia waited patiently for Luz to speak.

“...The reason why I did all that crazy stuff is that-” Luz paused to swallow a lump forming in her throat, “Is because I...Because I have a crush on somebody.”

Luz left it at that and hoped that her mother wouldn’t want more. But when Luz looked up, she saw Camilia looking at her expectantly.

"Is there more to this?" Camilia asked.

"...Yes."

“Then go on,” Camilia said.

“Well, whenever I see this person, I get all...stupid,” Luz continued, “I can’t think straight, and the only thing running through my mind is ways to impress he-them. And most of the time, I do the first thing that comes to my head. Which means doing an idea that is…not that smart.”

“And that’s all you have to tell me?” Camilia asked, thinking there had to be more. Luz didn't answer, but instead, looked down at her shoes with a grim expression. Camilia sighed, knowing that this meant it would be difficult to get more of an explanation.

“Well, experience has taught me that you do go crazy around boys,” Camilia said, "But why were you worried to tell me you have a crush on someone?"

“It’s who the person is that makes it hard,” Luz muttered.

“Why? What’s his name?” Camilia noticed Luz flinch when she asked the question, and Camilia knew that meant it was someone she wouldn’t approve of.

“Luz,” she said more sternly, “What. Is. His.  _ Name _ .”

“Her name,” Luz said so fast that Camilia was sure she didn’t hear it right.

“What?”

“You keep asking what’s  _ his  _ name when you should have asked what’s  _ her  _ name,” Luz explained, "Because I don't have a crush on a boy...I have a crush on a girl."

“...What?” Camilia asked, too shocked to say anything else.

“Mom, I’m...I’m…” Luz took a deep and calming breath before finishing her thought, “I’m bisexual.”

Camilia was at a loss for words. So much so that she didn’t know what to do but stare at Luz with a blank expression. Luz decided that it was for the best to continue.

“You see...at first I wasn’t sure about it myself,” she said, “Every once in a while, I would look at a girl and think ‘Oh hey. She looks kind of cute.’ But, you know, in the way I would think a boy would look cute. The first couple of girls, I didn’t think much of it. But as I got older, I started wondering why I thought girls were as cute as guys. More importantly, why was I as nervous around some of these girls as I would for a boy? Those thoughts followed me through middle school, and I kept brushing them off as a weird phase. And then this year started, and I met...my crush.

“Like before, I didn’t feel anything towards her. Just the same thought of ‘Oh, hey. She’s cute.’ But it wasn’t until I got to know more about her did I realize ‘Oh...I have a crush on her. I, Luz Noceda, have a crush on another girl.’ When I had that little...revelation, I took my phone out and did the only thing I could think of: I looked up ‘What does it mean if I have a crush on a girl’ on the internet. And after doing...I guess you could say research, I found out that I was in fact bisexual.

“So, there it is,” Luz said, letting out a breath, “That’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Now you know why I was acting loonier than usual, and why I was so scared to tell you. So...what do you think?”

Camilia didn’t know what to think. She just continued to stare at Luz out of stunned silence.

“...Are you mad?”

“No. No!” Camilia said, the shock wearing off, “No, Luz, I’m not mad.”

“Oh man, you're disappointed?!”

“No!” Camilia practically shrieked, “I’m not either of those things, mija. I’m just...wait, why would you think I would be mad or disappointed? Better yet, why were you so scared to tell me any of this in the first place?"

Once again, Luz gazed down at her shoes. Too scared to look her mother in the eyes.

“When I was doing my ‘research’ I read some stories,” Luz explained, “Stories about other's experiences of being gay, bisexual, and all of that...stuff. And the stories that freaked me out were the ones where people came out to their families. Some worked out fine, but other people explained how they were cut out from their families. Those people even had families who were loving and supportive, but it all changed once a person came out. And I...I was just scared that you would be the same way.”

Luz began to tear up, and Camilia felt so heartbroken to see her little angel look like this. 

“Oh mija,” Camilia got out of her seat and walked over to Luz, and pulled her daughter into a warm hug. Luz reciprocated, burying her face into her mother's shoulder. They were like that for a few minutes until Camilia pulled away so they could be face to face.

“Listen to me,” she said with tears of her own, “I  _ never  _ want you to think that I’ll cut you out of my life. There is nothing you can do or will ever do that will make me want to get rid of you. Let alone which gender you prefer to date.”

“So...you don’t mind?”

“Of course I don’t mind! Boy. Girl. One of those fantasy creatures in those books that you like. I don’t care who you end up with. All I care about is that you find someone who’ll treat you with all the love and respect that you deserve.”

Luz smiled a tearful smile and hugged her mom again.

“Gracias mamá.”

“De nada mija,” Camilia said as she rubbed comforting circles on Luz’s back, “So, who is the lucky girl anyway?”

“Carla.”

“WHAT?!” Camilia exclaimed as she pulled away from the hug. As for Luz, she went back to looking panicked.

“I thought you didn’t mind?!”

“I don’t,” Camilia reassured, “I’m just confused because I thought she was your ‘rival!’”

“She is my rival...who I also have a crush on.”

“But you go on and on about how much you don’t like her. You always tell me about how she thinks she’s  _ so  _ perfect with her good grades, her good looks, constant charisma, and-Oh my gosh, you have a crush on her.”

That sudden realization got Luz to laugh, and soon enough, Camilia started laughing with her.

“Honestly, I was always scared to talk to you about Carla,” Luz said after the laughter, “I always thought I was being too obvious.”

“Clearly you weren’t,” Camilia quipped, “What isn’t obvious is why you did all that stuff that got you in trouble. Seriously mija, why did you think fake guts and inside out eyelids would impress Carla?”

“Well, Carla walks around school wearing punk-rock and edgy clothes. It’s pretty cool, actually.”

“Uh-huh?”

“And I thought that I could impress her by doing stuff that was cool and edgy.”

“And how’s that working out for you?”

“Not great,” Luz then bashfully rubbed the back of her neck, “But again, when I see her, I just get all...stupid.”

“Sorry to tell you this mija, but all the women in our family get stupid with our crushes,” Camilia explained with a grin, “Me, your abuela, and even your tia Gabbi become disasters around boys. And, well, I guess the same applies to girls too.”

“And you are ok with it being a girl, right?”

“Yes, Luz, I am,” Camilia said with a warm smile as she checked the time, “Alright, well, it’s pretty much time for dinner. You want take-out?”

“Pizza?”

“You traumatized cheerleaders when trying to impress a crush mija. I don’t think I should reward you with Pizza.”

“Then how ‘bout Chinese, but you force me to eat with the chopsticks?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“It’s sort of a punishment when you think about it.”

“...Eh. Why not. Chinese sounds good anyways.”

  
  


***

That night, Camilia sat in her bed and browsed the reality check camp’s website again. This time on her tablet instead of her laptop. Once again, Camilia went through all the info and steps for admission. Only now, she was more conflicted than before.

‘It’s different now that we know she has a crush on someone,’ one part of her said, ‘Remember how she got with that Marco boy last year? She was a wreck.’

‘Every girl in her class was a wreck with that boy,’ the other part countered, ‘It was actually kind of disturbing to witness. Besides, that doesn’t excuse her behavior.’

‘Like we haven’t done worse?’

‘Be that as it may, this is good for Luz.’

‘But we said that we wouldn’t send her away for  _ anything _ . Wouldn’t she feel betrayed?'

‘Maybe she’ll forgive us?’

“Hey mom,” Camilia looked up to see Luz leaning on the doorway and wearing her sleepwear, “I’ll be heading to bed soon. Just wanted to check in one last time to make sure you were ok with me being...you know.”

Camilia rolled her eyes before responding.

“Yes, Luz, I’m ok with it. Honestly, I’m glad that you told me the truth rather than live a lie. Not only would it be  _ extremely  _ unhealthy to keep that all bottled up, but it would also be wrong because I never want you to keep secrets from me. Even if it’s to tell me something I don’t like, I always want you to tell me the truth. Ok?”

“...Ok. And Mom?”

“Yes mija?”

“Thanks for being so understanding,” Luz said with the brightest smile she had all day.

“You’re welcome, Luz,” Camila said with a warm smile of her own, “Buenas noches.”

“Buenas noches,” Luz said back as she walked away to her room.

“Te amo!” Camilla called out.

“Yo también te amo!”

Camilia then looked back at her tablet, and her smile almost instantly vanished.

‘Now how can you even consider sending Luz to this camp?’

‘Just look through the ‘about us’ tab again. Maybe there’s something we missed that Luz will love?’

Camilia then tapped the ‘about us’ and re-read the camp’s benefits for what must have been the hundredth time that day. However, this time she saw one benefit that seemed even more tempting than before.

‘Helps your child learn how to properly interact with others.’

‘When I see her, I just get all...stupid,’ Luz’s voice rang in Camilia’s head.

‘Well,’ Camilia thought, ‘Maybe if it could help Luz with her crush…’

Camilia then bookmarked the website, shut down her tablet, and set her tablet and her glasses on the bedside table.

“You do it for Luz,” Camilia said to herself as she laid down in her bed, “Do it for Luz.”

**Author's Note:**

> For those who are wondering, this is Carla: https://twitter.com/azulasbitch/status/1259637800670040074
> 
> She shows up for the first few minutes of the first episode, and in no way is her actual name, Carla. In fact, I don't even think she does or ever will have a name. I just gave the character the name Carla because it was the first thing I thought of, and because I thought it would be weird if Luz didn't mention her crush by name. BTW, Carla is evidence that Luz absolutely has a type, and there's nothing you can do or say that can convince me otherwise.


End file.
